-Baby Orc Retrieval/Second Royal Audience-

It had only taken the group another hour to return to Rakit forest, baby in hands. Just why would a mother want a child that ugly? Alas, the group was, for the most part, too young to understand unconditional love from a parent. They'd stayed for a short while in a nearby village to rest up. Surprisingly, the orcs had weaponry and armor the size of humans-- it was in actuality, for prepubescents of the clan, but they were more than willing to part with it after seeing their good deed.

From there on, it was a walk to Palace Inging and a long, boring audience. Pray the humans could live through it all, as the ones who hadn't heard the speech before were dumbfounded by King Enurn's verbose in talking, and the rest which had were only frustrated by the length. Afterwards, they were introduced to the cavalry they'd run into at Cesspool's Shack: a quartet of members on foot and more traveling in a wagon from afar. They also met the pair of humans that were elsewhere during the orc's retrieval.

Without the foggiest clue, they depart for a port town called Sabaten. A long walk, beginning from a dying afternoon...

-Road to Sabaten: Path Through Rakit-

I'm going to miss that shameless bugger. Oh, Finn...

"As I said before, my name is Jenna. I'm a knight for Palace Inging, with two decades of servitude in my belt." It was the same woman Roderick had met at the first audience: tall, slender, with particularly feminine features, amongst them full lips and big eyes. It was a siren. in Osar, a siren is similar to a mermaid, however the former is earthbound and the latter resides in water.

The other three were far less elegant: a gruff lizardman wielding a scimitar; a reanimated skeleton mage; an ogre archer, all wielding the customary silver armor with the royal 'I' design on the left chest area. On the subject of crown members, the caravan that would travel at a different rhythm had yet to appear. They'd just regrouped at Rakit marketplace, though at an indecent hour for departure, at least in Myrna's eyes - sunrise. She'd been part of the morning shift in her job for a few years, but bossing around teenagers was one thing, saving the world was a whole other one.

Currently, the woman sat beside Jenna, making small talk about the life of a knight, the rude taxes imposed and the reasons behind them, and then some more trivial things. The rest of the small army resided in other benches, merely waiting in on a messenger to give them the word of safety to leave.

Staring into a distance with sullen eyes, unmoving, unflinching; Roderick looked deader than the sitting skeleton beside him. He had already asked for it's gender, it's age and how it died. Of course, that was a few hours ago and the dull chatter was slowly biting at his sanity.

Roderick sideglanced to the young bright-eyed girl named Jamie, they had all been informaly introduced while they were recuperating at the orcish village after yesterday's episode. The locals, strangely, were friendly enough to spare them their goods in reward for rescuing a child of their tribe.

Roderick after seeing what happened at the tavern, where the mage had told them the bandits were preparing for an elaborate ritual of sorts with the baby as a sacrisfice, decided he needed a bigger weapon if he was going to survive and helped himself to a crudely made war axe, which now rested lightly against the back of his bench.

"Soo..." He began, tilting his helmet up look at her more clearly.

"You want to see something?"Then he rubbed his hands on his pants, making sure they were clean. After which he cupped his palm over his left eye and squinted forcefully, his other eye began to redden and tear lightly. After a few long moments, he began to scream.

"AAaAAAAAaAAARRRGHHHH!~" Then an audible 'plop' was heard and he stopped, taking deep breaths and possibly frightening the bejeezus out of everyone near him.

Then he removed his hand from his face, revealing a glassy white orb about the size of a pong ball. "Nah." He said grinning, showing it to her, rolling it around in his palm till a colored circle was shown.

Looking back up at him, a grotesque and slightly collapsed empty eye socket, lined inside with a thick mass of reddish scar tissue was embedded in his face where his left oculars used to be.

Nethania remembered the way to Sabaten so she walked ahead by herself. She had enjoyed the Orc's company, afterall at one time they had been elve's themselves. They had shown kindness and let them rest for the night, they even repaired Nethania's staff after she had dropped it prior. She had thanked them kindly before they left, leaving them some money she had brought with her and recomending her father as a blacksmith to them.

After the humans had rested they had took off again, it was akward as Nethania had no intention of getting to know them. Her long dark hair swung gently acros her back as she walked in front of the group.

'Not far now, if you can keep walking without stops we sjould get there in just under and hour' She called back to the others. The heat from the sun was causing Nethania to take regular drinks from her water, and she even ripped both her sleeves from her shirt and threw them to the ground.

Jack chuckled when Roderick popped out his eye, despite the fact it was his real eye and not a fake. Or maybe was it glass? From where Jack was sitting, he couldn’t really make it out exactly. And Jamie’s expression was even better. Jack could barely contain himself.

Jack managed to draw his attention away from the commotion across from him, and focused on what was in his hands. In it sat lifeless leather, the only thing remaining of his brass knuckles after Roderick’s spell. He hadn’t exactly enjoyed punching that guy back at the bar, his bending flesh under his fist just felt too strange for his liking. He much enjoyed flinging balls of fire at whatever he wanted. It seemed more satisfying.

But, still, the knuckles were a gift from the kingdom, and they were also the first thing Jack noticed when he entered his new home. An Orc blacksmith offered to fix them, even fashioning them out of steel— quite an advancement over the original brass. But Jack didn’t want to bother the blacksmith, who seemed really nice and had a cute elf assistant. Jack would’ve felt terrible if the blacksmith spent the time to make the knuckles and then never use them.

Better off just not doing it… Jack thought, shrugging as he stared at the strap of leather. But maybe there’s something I could do with them? he thought to himself, stretching the leather, twisting and bending it. Jack placed the leather on his lap, and took a deep breath. The leather looked like it could be a glove, if it weren’t for the four holes where the brass knuckles would’ve been.

Jack was reminded of a spell he’d learned from a local alchemist. “It’s just a little spell,” the alchemist warned him. “Nice for when you need more of something. Easy to learn too, no ingredients or anything. Just say—”

“Mulkivy Fuloun…” Jack mumbled placing his hands over the leather and took a deep a breath. “Mulkivy Fuloun!” he said, in a mystic tone… his voice a little louder than he’d intended. A flash of light occurred and liquid leather began to float into the air. Jack guided the leather to the gloves and covered the holes. Once the leather was in place it solidified.

Jack grinned as he looked at his newly created glove. He slipped it on his fingers and grinned widely. He just wished he caused such a ruckus doing something more extravagant… like teleporting, or healing a baker from burning alive in his oven.

Nethania had just told the group if they kept walking they’d be there in less than a hour. Jack nodded and got up, grabbing the steel staff leaning against the bench. It seemed to get hotter, and the leather glove began to stink, so he took it off. He grabbed the staff, which the alchemist said would great effects to whatever spell he did, ready to go.

Jamie's hand landed hard on the side of his helmet, it's resonance spread throughout the metal which promptly made him yell.

"WHAT THE F**K!"

If Roderick had not been donning that piece of armor, the slap would have made him hemorrahge in the socket again and there were not doctors around this time. No saline solution, no antibiotics. Jamie was going to pay a heckload of a fine after he gives her a piece of his mind, then sue her.

"You thought I was hurt! Then you try and make it worse!?" He argued back.


Then he heard a chuckle from Jack, who was sitting nearby. At least someone knows how to appreciate funny when they see it, he thought; though his own sense of humor was always abit ...morbid.

Of course he wouldn't admit this was a prank backfired, having honestly not seen that slap coming. Still he had to keep insisting he was right, it would be darned if her slap was justified.

"What are you, eight!?" He added, to drive the point home, coincidently a flash of light made it more dramatic. Putting his prosthetic eye back in, he blinked to readjust it. No longer feeling obliged to amuse Jamie, least she goes round finding faces to attack.

The woman known as Nethania seemed like she wanted to go ahead on her own, having managed to influence the group's mage to join her as well. But Roderick was reluctant to move, looking back worriedly at his bags which sat haphazardly in a pile not far from them ...and his axe. He did not see himself lugging them all that all the way, to god knows where on foot.

Lee stood alone, leaning against a large stone building. His head was bent downward at the ground, one leg straight out, the other curled and resting against the building as well. His eyes were shut, he was thinking. Since the scrimmage at cesspool shack, Lee had been pondering one thing, and one thing only. When Myrna went down, Nethania came to her aid. She healed the woman with magic... As a hopeful doctor, Lee had a strong desire to do the same thing. Another thing that was going through his mind was the painful sounding ripping noise he heard coming from Myrna's stomach.

He brushed the thought off, and glanced up just in time to see Jamie, the young girl he was just introduced to, deliver a slap to the face of Roderick. He chuckled a bit, and then immediantly felt sorry for the girl. She was only 15, yet she was sucked into this mess with a bunch of people who were far from her own age. Lee decided to go and talk to her, it was better than standing there doing nothing.

He came behind her and tapped on her shoulder lightly. "Hey, are you alright?" It was a dumb question, anyone with eyes or ears would know the answer. It was just something that he thought showed a bit of care.

As he waited for a reply, Nethania called out saying that if they continued on foot, it would only be an hours journey. That was easy for the two of them to say, but for somebody like Roderick with a collection of bags, it was a different story. He thought he heard somebody mention earlier that they were waiting on a caravan that would take their stuff. Where exactly were they going that they would need all that stuff anyways?

"Aww great, cry to your boyfriend why don't you ..." Roderick mumbled to himself as he saw Lee took a step to console the girl, making sure no one else heard him.

Roderick did feel bad that he was harsh on her while she worried about him, yet she went beyond his expectations and twacked him. Not knowing how to act next and probably having too much ego to even care as well, he decided it was best he bottled his feelings, act indifferent and generally dump the whole issue aside till another time.

"Ho!" He looked in the other direction, calling out the two in the distance while they were still close enough to hear him.

"Ain't there gonna be a messenger or something coming here!" He was glad that there was something happening to keep his mind off from thinking in circles over the matter, right on time too.

-Rakit Forest/Rakit's Border Marketplace-

"We'll be leaving by nightfall at this rhythm! Get a move on, lads!"

"Nightfall?! What of the bandits? What of the thieves? What of--" SMACK! A slap befell one of the younger members - the caravan had little time to talk, they'd been informed of the messenger's death by a scout riding a wyvern, and were now on the defensive for a possible threat.

Granted, they weren't the best of forces to look after potential heroes, but they were more knowledgeable than them about Osar. Some seasoned veterans, some aspiring tacticians - the group was a dozen strong at most, and for that reason, would be traveling behind them after their first assignment finished. Like a band of escaped convicts, several heads protruded from the leather back-cover to observe the surroundings. It was a floor of yellow stone, with empty benches scattered out evenly.

A short, bearded man came out wearing the signature silver armor of Palace Inging, the sound of a bell shaking was made with every step he gave-- those were some boots he had on! Bright green and adorned in golden metal balls, these danced whenever a gait started.

"Apologies for the late arrival," Norbert nodded, eyes closed in apology. "we were watering the horses - don't want our wagon to stop in the middle o'the road. Name's 'Bert, I'll be leading this caravan, but we arn' riding with you. We go behind to carry any loot!" The last part, the dwarf spoke very gleefully. "We brought some of the things the orc gave ya, help yourselves t'somethin'!"

"I think I will..." Myrna stared to her right hip: the blade had gone rusty sometime during the bar brawl, freakishly so for something meant to sustain damage. With bare trust in the reservoir, the woman walked slowly after looking at Jenna. She doesn't seem like the royal snob type, the things she talks about are all so normal. This went onwards whilst the steps leading into the wagon were taken.

There were several crates inside, all of wood and with an open lid, holding various weapons and pieces of miscellaneous armor. It seems inconvenient to use larger equipment, just Roderick alone is carrying enough for three people! Without Nethania in their fray directly, they'd need to rely more on their skill not to take any casualties in.

In a show of faith, her hand dipped into the box, the first object she could grip properly felt soft on one side, hard on the other. It had a hole in it... Two? After a grunt, a pair of odd brown vambraces were pulled out. "For your wrists, ma'am." An orc called out slowly after noticing the bewildered stare Myrna gave. "Thanks."

After scowling for a few minutes, they were on. Another object caught her eye afterwards: a huge composite bow, with a rugged appearance, teeth etched forcibly into the wood; a tense, vile-looking string. Its corresponding quiver wasn't far away, filled to the brim with thick arrows that bore bone heads and long feathers on the back.

"My people use them... I-I could teach you-- if you want me to, that is. Sorry."

"By all means... I'm sorry too, what's your name?"

"Tarr, everyone calls me that."

"Myrna. I don't suppose I could abuse your good will and ask you to help me find something smaller? I'd like something heroic! Maybe a sword, or a mace, perhaps one of those funky balls on a chain..."

"Don't know what funky means. There is a dagger stuck to the wall from one of the bandi-- there's a dagger there." Tarr pointed to the opposite wall from the entrance, then ripped it off the wooden barrier with ease. After an exchange of nods, she waved at him quickly and ran out excited - they were armed for an adventure!

Maybe I should've asked him to teach me now... Oi...

"He's not playing with his eyes anymore, I think." The mumble was followed by her treading over to Roderick. After glancing at Lee and Jamie, she redirected to the man and proceeded.

"She's pretty young, Jamie I mean, explains why she got scared. Uh... I don't like taking sides, 'cause it WAS really funny, but then again she got really scared and-- ah." Too late to stop the rambling, but the mixed opinion got across. The caravan members got out now and signaled them to get weaponry in an exuberant manner. Too giddy for a war against evil, it would seem.

“Thanks.” Roderick pushed a wry smile through his lips, it looked kind of insincere when he was trying to not dwell on the matter so much and here Myrna was, reminding him of it.

“I don't like taking sides, 'cause it WAS really funny, but then again she got really scared and-- ah.”

Breaking into a half-assed chortle at Myrna’s inconsistencies in speech, raising his hand and waiving the tension away.

“It’s all right, you’re not taking sides.” He said to set her worries at ease, understanding her intent.

But a slap’s a slap, you know –“But seriously man, there’s nothing to be scared of. We’re in a new world ...just treat it like a vacation, a little heroing on the side, a platter of cheers?” Roderick made light of the situation, turning his volume up a little louder in hopes that Jamie could hear him as well.

Then he turned back to pay full attention to Myrna, pushing himself off the bench and hefting the war axe alongside onto his spaulders with some effort. He has yet to use it and frankly, did not know what to do with it except be overprepared/paranoid.

“Looks like they’re calling for us now, wonder what else they have? That bow you picked out would really suit you, though.”Possibly unintentionally insulting her, the weapon being barbaric and primitive. Himself eager to see what was in store for them, something flashy he hopes. Another spell or two would not be bad since he was already on the last chapter of his scroll and on the verge of his second cantrip.

“We’ve got an Osar to save, don’t let this get to you, ya?” He patted her shoulder with his free hand, ready to dump his bags in the wagon and check out the new arrivals.

Not far from the rest of the group sat the lone elf with raven dark hair, his eyes tightly shut. He was resting under a willow tree with very gnarly roots jutting from the ground, waiting pleasantly, escaping the wrath of the sun. His sword and lance rested next to him wrapped neatly within his cape. The Orcs had shown them such hospitality and done them wonders by repairing their weapons that had apparently corroded at that boys spell, offering them food, and giving them equipment. Elrohir had asked the Orcish blacksmiths to fasten his enchantment on his lance, increasing it's durability; something that not even the Dwarves, with all their skill, could compare to. Also, in case that boy used that spell again, he'd be ready.

His eyes opened and gazed over to the bunch of humans who were bickering back and forth. Apparently one of them pulled a prank the other didn't like and others tried to calm it down. "Tch," he grunted to himself as he averted his eyes elsewhere to see Nethania ahead.

"Nethania," He called out "just wait awhile longer, please. The caravan should be here soon enough." No sooner did he say that did the rugged looking Dwarf appear, calling himself 'Bert'. Elrohir stood, dusted the wood chips from his body, untethered his weapons to strap them back on his person, and then strode over to them.

With a light bow he said, "Greetings, Bert. I am Elrohir Durza and we have not waited impatiently; no need for apologies. It would be a hassle to carry the equipment on foot all the way to Sabaten. Though, if is not much of a hassle, I'd like to leave as soon as possible." He spoke softly as to avoid the assumption he was giving out orders.

Without much time waiting for his responds, Elrohir walked back and picked up a bag that was near a bench and heaved it over his shoulder. It wasn't heavy, not for an elf, but a human might get tired of carrying it longer than an hour, probably. He was discreet about packing his things in private.

"This is degrading. To be traveling so casually with a group of humans when I could be better serving our country by staying on the battlefields, eradicating the true threat of our people. Instead I'm here chasing wild shadows on the whim of the elders. What fools." he thought to himself as his eyes narrowed, then walking by the humans. "Enough fooling around. We are ready to leave." He said looking towards them but seeing right through them.

((Nethania will just meet you guys later, and Oddly if you want to come with my character thats cool but I would understand if you would rather saty with the rest of the group.))

Netahnia turned to Elrohir 'I have no intention of leaving your side, I would just rather find my was there than travel with bad company, you understand I shall meet you at Sabaten' She said before turning to Jack who seemed to plan on traveling with her.

'You, human boy it would be much safer for you to travel with your own kind, whilst I go ahead and scout the area to make sure no-one is in danger of being harmed further, if there is any trouble ahead I will let you know' She gave her best attempt at a smile but it looked more sarcastic then anything.

'And Elrohir, take care or that girl, tell her not to do too much work as she might break herself again'. Nethaina then walked forward to Elrohir and kissed his cheek lightly to say goodbye, which was a custom for her. She then placed a small bead in his hand 'If you need my assistance before we arrive, light this with fire and I shall come. I am still the only one here who knows how to fix a damaged body'.

With that Nethania began to walk into the darkness.

Roderick brushed the fringe out of his eye, looking upwards at the amber hued sky. Dawn was picking up, the quiet stillness of morning was bygone and in a few hours it will be noon. He secretly hoped they would not travel in the sweltering sun, like they did yesterday all the way back to the orc's home. He did not like heat.

Lowering his gaze, he came upon the tall brick structures that were sparsely scattered around the marketplace. Granaries, bell towers and the likes. Housing inhabitants who would soon rise to the day and continue into a bustling chorus, below multicolored tents and shophouses that slowly grew into the bazaar.

Creeeak~ A door in the distance swung open, out came a short plump lady with chubby features dressed in a working gown. Probably gnomish, Roderick thought as he took a moment to watch her start on setting up her store. Hooking the cloth over poles, reassembling them from last night's shift.

Then nearing footsteps began to break his trance.

"Enough fooling around. We are ready to leave."

He turned to face Elrohir, irritable vermin which literally oozed racism. From how he talks with Nethania, who had left sometime without his notice, compared to the rest of them. His starking black hair and fair complexion became an eyesore to Roderick, truly the last thing he needed to see.

"Not really." He replied in monotone to the elf, then sauntered to his belongings without saying more. Slotting the handle of his axe into the bag straps, he gritted his teeth; huffed and raised two of them from the ground. Bringing them over to the caravan to unload, only to return moments later for the last one. The satchels held an abundance of items, some like pillow cases, cutlery, tinder and various sprigs of spices were peeking out from the openings, only hinting at what else lay inside.

Jack began to follow Nethania, until she stopped and turned to Elrohir, and gave her goodbyes. She then turned to Jack, “You, human boy it would be much safer for you to travel with your own kind, whilst I go ahead and scout the area to make sure no-one is in danger of being harmed further, if there is any trouble ahead I will let you know.” Her smile was comforting, and Jack knew she was probably right.

Nethania seemed to be skilled in healing magic, and maybe even other fields Jack had never heard of. All he really knew were the Fire Seed spell, and the multiplication one. He could be a burden to her, possibly even getting in the way if they were assaulted. I don’t really even know what I’m doing Jack thought, I got lucky earlier… I need more time to practice.

Nethania had been talking to Elrohir, giving Jack time to think, but as she passed by Jack said, “You’re right, I think I’ll stick with them.” Besides, why would Jack abandon the people he’d grown to trust?

You trust way too easily, Jack. Grow a spine.

Jack flinched, his father’s voice suddenly booming in his head. He shook his head and took a deep breath. Well, that was fun. Jack rested his staff on his shoulder and gripped his spell book in his other hand. Ever since he’d gotten that book, he’d memorized all of one spell, which was highly unlike him. Maybe that’s what I’ll do… on the way to this place, I’ll read up on some spells. Could come in handy?

Jack turned and joined everyone else at the caravan. Jamie seemed to still be upset with Roderick, despite Lee’s attempts at comforting her. Jack chuckled, without knowing why, Where stuck here for now, why not make the best of it? It was times like now Jack was happy he didn’t take too much; all he needed was his staff and his book.

He joined the group, “I’m ready when you guys are,” he declared. He noticed Roderick in the corner of his eye; he wanted to mention the prank he pulled… but Jamie was within earshot, and he didn’t want to come off as a bitch.

-Rakit Border's Marketplace/Veryl-Nat Trail-

Judging from the rising sun and the birthing chatter, dawn was well on its way. The gray twilight loomed over the clean floor - Osar may not be peaceful, but at least it was pristine. Norbert had probably heard enough complaints over leaving the place by then, as such he went to meet the rider pulling the wagon and shouted out to those nearby.

"Leaving as soon as possible... We are departing! First squad leaves now, we start following you at sunrise."

Mysteriously enough, the dwarf went into the back of the wagon, not to be seen for the time being. After staring for a few moments, it was evident they wouldn't leave with them. Jamie had, thankfully, come back after the little episode - if they couldn't fend for themselves, much less could a child, nay, teenager do so.


Myrna bit away at her nails, nervous over traveling with just them and not the rest of the group. Then there was the fact she couldn't use the main weapon she'd taken from the caravan.

It's so big and heavy... Think positive. It's-It's a sturdy, stable, easy-to-handle bow. Yes.

Either her uncertainty was glaring, or ogres were very susceptible to changes in people's emotions. The burly male made odd noises with his teeth, which escaped the mouth on the lower edge. His armor rustled all the way to the woman.

"There's green in you."

"Green?"

"Ogres and orcs have green blood. You smell like it."

"Gee... That's nice. Do excuse me, I think I'll just run for that place we need to be going to..."

Every turn back -which was programmed at five steps-, the ogre followed walking. When she realized it was rude to leave him with word in his mouth, Myrna began going at a slower pace, keeping eyes to the road of stone and opaque grass.

"That bow was mother's, it's small because it's made for women." He pointed to the weapon carried by the human. For something 'small', it was rather bulky, forcing Myrna to walk straighter than usual even. "Tarr is my half-brother, he gave it to you didn't he?" The question cloaked a subtle anger.

"He offered to teach me how to use it, but no..." Quickly, she began to socialize - anything not to hear some sappy story that'd keep her mind more off-track than it already was. "I'm Myrna! What's your name?"

"...Trev-Lia. It means family in the tongue we speak with humans."

"I'm named after my grandma. Is there any reason in particular you were named that?"

"Dad is ogre. Dad does ogre traditions; ogres are named after the first try and fail to eat."

"That is fascinating in such a morbid way. Please, tell me more!"

So the pair of archers began their way along the road, the stench of pine wafting after the first few steps.

"Leaving as soon as possible... We are departing! First squad leaves now, we start following you at sunrise."

"We're not riding?" Asked Roderick, looking worriedly at the announcer but the dwarf had already retreated back into the wagon before his words could flutter over.

Nope. He replied to himself, looking down he promptly dropped the axe back into the wagon and his helmet as well. Even he found himself rather lazy, afterall he came from a world of automobiles and air-conditioning, investing most of his time abound Chemistry texts and what little vacancy for athletism he had; was spent as an introvert, locked comfortably in his room lifting heavy steel.

It was inevitable that he needed time to get used to this, hopefully without too much complaint and moaning.

Walking down an uncivilized path, literally asking to be ambushed. He had better be prepared in case of such an event, maybe he will ready some ...no, they were walking. Or perhaps he could try ....nope, they were walking! How was he to ready any spell on foot? Which made him think of the skeleton and Jack, who was standing right there.

Driven to his wits end, he asked if he could instead be dragged around on the wagon.

"It would be best if you joined the rest of the group, Sir Tager Roderick, it is safety in numbers. Rest assured, the couriers will take good care of your belongings." Jenna said to him assuringly, her hand patting it's wooden side.

"Cool, I mean that's fine." Roderick replied, belieing his slight disappointment with cheer. He should probably get something lighter to wield, or at least, carry if they were travelling horseless. Looking at the barrel of spare weapons, the lizard-man Keeli'an'ash pacing beside it, he spotted the handle of a possible candidate.

Reaching over, he pulled the arms out of it's home, immediatly recognizing it as a Valaška, who knew what it was called here. He had seen these in a museum once, they were used to herd animals as well. "May I?" The lizardfolk gestured with flicking scaled fingers that he could have it.

Not suprisingly, it fitted perfectly into the sheath of his previous weapon, both being axes with handles almost the same size. Just that one was slightly longer, made partially of wood and had a single blade. He smiled, he liked axes, they were carried on his back which left his two hands free.

"Have to try, I guess." Roderick took quick steps in order to catch up with the rest of them, gaining up on Myrna and an orc he had not yet been introduced to that she was with.

-------------------------------------------------Three minutes later----------------------------------------------------------------

Roderick waited awhile for a pause in their conversation before asking, not to make his intrusion seem too harsh, afterall he would be slightly pissed too if someone interupted him.

"Eh Myrna, could I have one arrow?" Prefering to ask someone he knew, someone he felt he could relate to.

He held a crumpled scroll in his hands with a language, which he had no recollection of learning but still managed to read, depicting a heptagonal diagram with the image of something sharp and thin across it on top of many small fonted words -which he apparently had to draw ...somewhere

"I'll return it later." Not likely.

Dude, that’s a skeleton...

Jack slowly turned to his right and noticed the skeletal being next to him, with Roderick on the other side of him. He’d noticed the skeletal mage back at the Orc village, but he just figured he was hallucinating or something. The previous spell casting seemed to take quite a toll on him earlier, he just figured it was a mental aftershock… or something.

Should I say something…? Do skeleton’s talk?

Jack had known that Osar was a strange place, but he didn’t realize just how strange it could be. He forced his gaze away from the skeleton, and looked ahead of him. Myrna was conversing with an Orc, something Jack had tried to do earlier with the Alchemist. “Go away, human,” he’d said. “I gave you a staff, and taught you spell what more do you want?” Your assistant’s number, actually. Jack had thought, not at all about to say it aloud.

He’d been attracted to those of a different race… he just wasn’t sure how a human/elf relationship would work…

His gaze returned to the skeleton, which had seemed to notice Jack’s interest. “May I help you?” it said coldly, scaring Jack’s eyes away. Jack said sorry, and looked away, glancing over every now and then. That was until he noticed Roderick approach Myrna for an arrow. He was holding a scroll, and the arrow, with a puzzled look on his face.

I wonder what he’s doing? He wondered, until it hit him. that scroll looks a little like the one from earlier… Jack remembered, finally realizing what he was doing. Of course, there must be more than one way to do magic! I have a little experience… Jack sighed and wandered around the skeleton and next to Roderick.

The scroll he was holding looked as old as his own book, yet there were strange markings on it… instructions? “Uh, hey, Roderick…” he started, kind of nervous. “Would you like some help with that?”

"Uh," Roderick pried his attention away from Myrna. "Yeah ...I could do with some." He replied, it was better than intruding on the couple.


Jack stared at the scroll, slightly confused. "Okay, so what do you have to do? I don't usually-- I mean, I usually just read a few words from a book, and I say them... How's this work?"

"Hmmm,” Roderick gave it some thought. “...bend over, let me scrawl THIS" He unfurled the scroll and jarted his finger at it’s scrawling. "On your back while we walk.” He may have joked and laughed in spurts but it would have been very convenient if Jack did so that, for Roderick that is.

"I noticed that.” Refering to how Jack casted his spells.

"Mine ..." He returned to explaining the scroll, rewinding it to a previous chapter. "This instructs me to perform these weird ass things, apparently to 'mechanize' per say my lifeforce before a spell is cast. Then when the time comes to release it, I have to perform a ‘trigger' component." Moving his finger over tiny words, showing what he means.

Which brought him to a point. "How do you cast without doing that?"

Jack laughed; he wanted to sound professional... but he knew his method as simply as... "I... uh... Well, this book here--" Jack pointed to the book. "Each page is dedicated to a spell, with each one given a name. For example--" Jack pointed to the first page. "Fire Seeds of the Goddess. I say that, somehow, something in my body sacrifices a little bit of itself--life-force, like you say-- and the affects materialize."

Jack paused, slightly wanting to laugh. He folded his arms and pursed his lips. "It seems less complicated than your way.”

"So simple? Just words?" Roderick looked disdainly at his own spellscroll, shocked at what nonsense it made him go through to cast a spell.

"What about amplification?” A concept mentioned in his own. He quickly became intruiged by this discussion, there was a vast difference between their methods. “The last spell I learnt works on a basis of enhancing and merging natural laws" He rolls the coiled paper to later page, one with a drawing of lodestone attracting swords and a histographic representation of water.

"I need to carry these things because my body can’t start the phenomenon, which is the basis of this spell.” He explained.

“What kinds of magic can you use?"

Jack paused, his body feeling suddenly tense. He knew a time would come when he’d regretted not sitting and reading that book of his. "I just learned this one spell, it's a multiplication spell. I say it, and whatever I'm muliplying-- That material attaches to my hands. With my mind, I morph it into whatever I want... And then there's the Fire Seeds. I haven't devoted enough of my time to learning this stuff... What can you do?"

Roderick thought about the latest thing he did with magic, recalling the incident at the tavern. Oh crap ..."Your brass knuckles ...yeah ...about that ...y'know." He squinted, trying to laugh it off while being very indirect at his answer.

"Oh... those..." Jack flexed his gloved hand, proud of his work. "Don't worry 'bout it, man. Weighing me down, sort of." Jack shrugged. "Besides, I like to think the whole one glove thing is quite fashionable."

Immediately after, he diverted their conversation to something else. "And I'm on the verge of preparing my latest spell ...but I kind of need an arrow." He looks at Myrna then at the pines beside the road, contemplating.

"Why don’t you try turn one of those tree branches into an arrow with that spell? It’s just there." He pointed to the roadside trees, he actually liked the dense scent of pine that came from the plants.

"Sure." Jack nodded eager to show what he can do. He walked over to a tree, and ripped off a branch and placed it flat on his right palm. He knew he didn’t know magic all that well, but, for the short time he knew it, he knew this spell.

Roderick furrowed his brows at what he was doing.

Jack held his left hand over the branch and shouted, "Mulkivy Fuloun!" A flash of light occurred and wood-like material began to break off from the branch and surround his left hand. After a moment of concentration, the liquid-wood-like material separated from Jack’s hand and morphed into an arrow. Finally solidifying.

Jack grinned, extremely proud. "Here you go!" Beaming, Jack gave the arrow to Roderick.
Roderick carefully takes the arrow into his hand, repeating something under his breath hollering.

"Mulkivy Fuloun!" Writhing, shimmering light seeps from Roderick’s hand but instead of the arrow reforming into something else, it snaps where the light smashes into it.


"Huh...." Roderick said, looking at the broken twig, rather annoyed.

"I guess after you study one kind of casting, the others just epic fail you." He comments but he had to prove his theory.

"Want to try one of mine? Could I have another arrow as well." He pulls up a corner of his mouth, in a sideway grin.

Jack laughed, almost eager to see how bad he’d mess up. "After watching that, I kind of want to..." Jack ripped away another branch, "Mulkivy Fuloun!" A flash of light occurred, and he repeated the process. He held the arrow. "Okay, what now?"

"To start off, I have to draw this pictogram.” Roderick glanced around then returned to his scroll. “ ...Somewhere, channel my 'mana'." For an easier understanding, he had been using videogame references to aid his magic.

“Into it and back, mixing it with the rest of my lifeforce again multiple times for about." He rolled his eye upwards, performing mental calculations of sorts that he knew. "About seven minutes per spell." Pointing to the scroll again, he detailed the instructions.

"Understand the focal of arcane intelligence." Refering to a part of the diagram, underlining words roughly explaining summoning commands.

"Which as far as I know, gives it instructions after it is cast ...like a protocol. Then using the arrow to give it form, channel through the diagram into the arrow using lifeforce. Along with any magical writing..."

By this time he noticed his audience’s look, Roderick considered stopping there but he actually liked teaching these concepts. It reminded him of chemistry and so he went on and on to subjects like concentration and imagery, for awhile.

" ...Apparently apprentices used this spell to activate or empower devices that draw on spell force. Also there are other variations of it, this one is based on the concepts of summoning ...what's it's name again?" He turned the handle, rolling the parchment to the first page regarding the second chapter. "Magic Missile, Tetlyn's. Other versions are some different form of magic, looks like it."

Jack seemed a little dazed. "Damn, man, how do you remember all that? Okay, so, just to make sure I got the right idea... You draw a picture in the ground, and channel your energy into it. After seven minutes, you can channel the energy into the arrow, which can then be used to create some kind of magic missile?"

"Wish it were that simple." Roderick replied, which was why he was grimacing at the scroll by this time. "You have to channel it in segments so it doesn't entangle itself and you cannot channel all the solidified energy, leave one small portion behind so that you can complete the spell through the arrow by placing the segment back in. This is called a trigger, leaving an uncompleted portion of a spell so it can be recalled.” Roderick felt like he was missing out on something, something important. Memory struck him and his eye lit up slightly, still keeping a straight face.

“Oh and the diagram must be written in salted ink, salt makes conduction of raw conciousness easier."

"I don't know what would happen if I didn't use that.” Probably burn holes in the drawing. “And the spell must be conducted while thinking of an imagery you get after reading." He reels the scroll forward, jumping two pages in front. "This line for it to strike with a better effect." On it was a block of random adjectives strung together, clearly some psychology was used here.

Jack stared at the scroll, his mouth slightly agape. He was happy he just had to deal with an old, frayed book. "It's slowly making more sense... I just would've never imagined magic was so complicated... I mean, for my spells, it seems I have so little control of how the outcome comes about. You're spells, everything is so precise..." Jack paused, his mind at work... a head-ache forming deep in his brain. "I have a feeling I'll be thinking about this for a while..."

Roderick had an ephiphany. “Maybe that's why I have trouble casting your spells, I guess I try to force it into an effect and expect too much of the outcome. Where did you get your spellbook, bought?"

Jack shrugged, trying to recall back to his first meeting with the book. "I found it, like, way before all of this. In a courtyard outside of the castle. It was lying on a bed in a house. A little fairy told me the house chose me..." Jack began to realize how crazy this all sounded. This whole Osar thing was crazy, but he’d began to accept it.

Ah shit... whatever happened to that fairy?! Jack thought.


"Fairy? MULKIVY FULOUN!" Roderick reluctant to give up on casting the new spell, shouted abruptly trying to reform the two pieces of arrow into one. The idea was to catch magic unaware, therefore create success. Only to shatter them into toothpick sized splinters, leaving himself rather light headed.


"Fugit!" He swore. “Couldn’t hurt to try.” He shrugged.

Jack laughed. "Maybe it's best if you practice in small bits. And try not to think. Like, just say it and try and put as much of... you... into it, and try and think of the bigger effect rather than the small bits of getting there." He tried to explain, trying to pinpoint whatever he does every time he casts a spell. He never knew just how much his mind and body worked whenever he casted a spell. He laughed silently, still amused by Roderick's attempts.

"And, yeah, there was a fairy. He was like my brother for an hour," Jack continued, his voice sad. He’d missed that fairy, and it made him sad he forgot about him.

"It's hard not to think about it, without wondering how magic shapes wood and all that." Roderick held the second, untouched arrow.

"I was guided by an elf, looked like a very sissy man till she let her hair down. I heard Nethania healed Myrna with magic, wonder how she does it?" Roderick said, reminded of the elf.

How did she do it? Maybe, if I’d gone with her, I would’ve found out... "Hah, sissy man... Hmmm, maybe she has deep down love for all things living, you know? Something like that..." It had to be something do with her heart. It would have to take heart to heal—give life to another human being.